Barrington's Peterson looks to continue meteoric rise

Last year at this time Barrington's Erik Peterson was toiling on the freshman/sophomore squad for the Broncos cross country team.

The junior enters this season as the top returning runner from the Mid-Suburban League meet.

Needless to say it was meteoric rise from anonymity to stardom for Peterson, who also finished 57th at the Class 3A state meet.

"We thought we had a pretty good frosh/soph runner," said Barrington coach Ty Gorman after Peterson won that level's title at the Palatine Invite in late September. "Six weeks later he is a state qualifier. Without a doubt it was surprising."

Peterson ran his first varsity race in an MSL triangular in early in October, and quickly became the Broncos' No. 1 runner. He then hung with the likes of Prospect's Chris Spudic, Palatine's Alec Bollman, and Schaumburg's Pat Lesiewicz in taking fourth at the MSL meet, finishing with a time of 15:43.

Peterson didn't stop there - the then sophomore then finished 11th at the Schaumburg sectional and ended his season with solid race at the Class 3A state meet.

"At the beginning of the season I didn't even know him," said senior Kyle Dockery, "halfway through the season he's our best runner. He came out of nowhere, with no summer mileage, it was like 'who is this.'

"It's bizarre, but it was good."

Peterson seemed to be unfazed by the sudden turn of events, and calmly handled the pressure of the big meet.

"It was kind of a gradual rise," said Peterson of his progress. "Workouts were more difficult when I got up to varsity; it was mostly the upperclassmen pulling me along."

Peterson's progress didn't stop in cross country; he continued his success in the track season by taking first in the 3,200 meters at the MSL meet and the Huntley sectional.

Peterson then finished a breakthrough season by taking 12th in the 3,200 at the 3A state track meet.

Last season in cross country Peterson admitted to not having the best finishing kick, but after a full season of track and a complete summer of workouts, the junior enters the season not only stronger, but faster.

"He came in with good endurance, but he is getting stronger, which is making him faster," added Gorman of Peterson's improvement. "Any knocks on him last year was his leg speed. As a team we focused on that this year. Now he is stronger and he looks faster."

While Peterson's stock was rising at the end of last season, the Broncos' prospects came crashing to a halt at the Schaumburg sectional.

Barrington had finished third at the MSL meet, but the Broncos found themselves looking in from the outside at the end of the sectionals, finishing 1 point behind fifth-place Lake Zurich and Schaumburg and 2 points behind fourth-place Fremd.

"It was very painful," added Dockery of the Broncos' finish. "Missing by that little, we were focused on making every point count, it really hurt that we missed it by one point."

"It was disappointing for me, but it was even more disappointing for them," said Peterson of his team's failure to qualify for the state meet. "I was just in my first year, it was more than I expected. I'd really love for them to come down this year; it would make it that much better."

And with seniors such as Dockery, Andrew Foley, Karl Eiring and junior Nolan Wojtowicz returning, the Broncos seemed to be in good position.

"Our summer workouts were a lot more competitive," added Foley, who missed the end of last season with the swine flu. "We've upped the intensity."

The Broncos can also count on a full season from Peterson, and the seniors have made sure to push the junior through the summer workouts.

"It's like we'll carry you for awhile, we'll get you through these workouts, we'll push you to work hard," said Gorman of the senior leadership. "And Erik you bring us home at the end."

Peterson, who played soccer his freshman year before converting to cross country, will not have the luxury of flying under the radar this season, but Gorman is confident his junior is up for the challenge.

"Last year he was a surprise," added Gorman, "This year he is not going to surprise anybody, and he's a marked man. When the pressure is on he needs to be able to perform, but I have a lot of confidence in his ability."

So is Peterson up for an encore?

"Last season I don't know if I really had any goals," added Peterson, "I was just out for cross country. This year it's more about getting back down to state, doing well, and accomplishing team goals."

It sounds like Peterson is counting down for another blastoff.